Oven control valve



y 1962 F. E. CERVENY 3,042,308

OVEN CONTROL VALVE Filed June 15, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet l L115 11 1 12 g l Z1 fig 5 f 171/5272 UP Frank E (erve-n July 3, 1962 F. E. CERVENY 3,042,308

OVEN CONTROL VALVE Filed June 15, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 [HI/EflfUF Frani f. Cerver United States Patent 3,042,308 OVEN CONTROL VALVE Frank E. Cerveny, Berwyn, Ill., assignor to The Dole Valve Company, Morton Grove, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed June 13, 1960, Ser. No. 35,676 2 Claims. (Cl. 236-99) This invention relates to improvements in gas valves and more particularly relates to an improved safety shut-off valve particularly adapted for gas ovens and the like.

A principal object of the invention is to improve upon the safety gas shut-off valves heretofore in use by con taining the valve and thermally responsive element for opening and controlling closing of the valve on the cover plate for the valve body.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved form of safety gas shut-01f valve in which all of the movable parts of the valve are carried on the cover plate for the valve body, to simplify servicing of the valve and to adapt the movable parts of the valve to various forms of valve bodies, without altering the parts of the valve.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a preassembled thermostatic valve for mounting on a valve body and controlling the flow of gas through a port in the valve body, in which the sensing element for the thermally responsive actuator for the valve, the valve itself and the actuator for the valve are preassembled on a cover plate for the valve body.

These and other objects of the invention will appear from time to time as the following specification proceeds and with reference to the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a thermostatic valve constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken substantially along line IIII of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an end view of the valve looking at the valve from the inlet end thereof;

FIGURE 4 is a view in side elevation of the valve showing the pilot burner and thermal sensing element mounted on the cover for the valve body; and

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of the pilot burner and sensing element assembly.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawing, I have shown a valve 10, which may control the supply of gas to the main burner of an oven and the like.

The valve includes a valve body 11 having an inlet 12 leading thereinto and an outlet 13 leading therefrom. The valve body has side walls 141=4- and opposite end walls 15 and 16, the inner margins of which define a generally rectangular opening closed by a cover plate 19. The cover plate 19 is sealed to said end and side walls by a seal 20 and is retained to said valve body by machine screws 21 extending through said cover plate and threaded in the valve body. The valve body 11 also has an upwardly opening port 22 intermediate the inlet and outlet and shown as being disposed adjacent the end wall 16 and opening to the cover plate 19. The port 22 has communication with the outlet 13 from the valve body and has an annularseat 23 extending thereabout, opening to the cover plate 19 and engaged by a resilient annular face 25 of a disk valve 26, controlling the flow of gas through the port 22.

The cover plate 19 has a fitting 27 sealed to the top thereof and extending upwardly therefrom and forming a support and fitting for a capillary tube 29 for a bulb and capillary tube type of thermally responsive element 30. The fitting 27 extends about a port 31 leading through the cover plate 19 to a diaphragm 33 extending about the port 31, and suitably sealed at its edge to the undersurface of the cover plate 19. The diaphragm 33 forms the power member for the thermally responsive element and has an operating button depending therefrom in axial alignment with the port 31 leading through the cover plate 19. The capillary tube 29 is shown in FIGURE 4 as leading upwardly from the fitting 27 and cover plate 19 and as having a bulb 36 at its upper end in thermal associataion with the flame of a pilot burner 37. The bulb 36 may contain a vaporizable fluid, such as mercury and the like, toetfect extensible movement of the diaphragm 33 and operating button 35 with respect to the underside of the cover plate 19 upon the lighting of a pilot burner 37 and the heating of the bulb 36 by the flame of the pilot burner.

As shown in FIGURE 4, the pilot burner 37 is lit by the flame of a constantly burning pilot burner 39 and maintains its pilot flame as long as the oven valve handle (not shown) is turned on. The oven burner is turned on by turning the oven valve handle, to turn on the supply of gas to the pilot burner 37. The pilot burner 37 will then be lit by the flame of the constantly burning pilot burner 39. The flame issuing from the pilot burner 37 will then heat the bulb 36, to effect vaporization of the thermally responsive vaporizable fluid therein, and extensible movement of the diaphragm 33, to operate the lever 46 to open the valve 26. When, however, the oven burner valve handle is turned oif, the pilot burner 37 will be turned off. The bulb 36 will then cool and the valve 26 will close.

The valve 26 has a spool-like member 40 mounted thereon and extending thereabove. The spool-like member 40 is guided on a guide rod 41 depending from an upwardly recessed portion 43 of the cover plate. The guide rod 41 has a head 44 at its upper end, partially recessed within the top of the recessed portion 43 of the cover plate 19 and suitably secured thereto. A spring 45 is interposed between the underside of the head 44 and the spool-like operator 40 and biases the resilient annular face 25 of the valve, into sealing engagement with the seat 23.

The valve 26' is moved to an open position upon extensible movement of the diaphragm 33 with respect to the cover plate 19 by an operating lever 46 having a bifurcated outer end portion 47 extending between the flanges of the spool-like operator 40 along the reduced diameter portion thereof. A compression spring 48 seated at one end within the recessed portion 43 of the cover plate 19, and at its opposite end on the lever 46, is provided to bias said lever into a valve closing position and into engagement with a fulcrum 49 and the diaphragm 33.

The lever 46 has an inturned end portion 50 at the opposite end of said lever from the bifurcated end portion thereof, and extending parallel to the body of the lever. An adjustment screw 51 is threaded Within the lever 46 and inturned end portion 50 thereof into abutting engagement with the underside of the button 35.

The fulcrum 49 is herein shown as being bent upwardly from a transverse bridge portion 53 spaced beneath the cover plate 19 and mounted thereon on parallel spaced upright legs 55 extending upwardly from the bridge portion 53 along opposite sides of the diaphragm 33 and suitably secured to the underside of the cover plate 19. The fulcrum '49 is formed in the recessed portion of an upwardly extending end portion '56 of the bridge 53 and extends within downwardly opening V-shaped pockets 52 in the underside of the lever 46 and is retained from lateral movement by said pockets.

A plug 57 is screwed or pressed in the bottom of the valve body 11 in axial alignment with the adjustment screw 51 to afford access to said adjustment screw, to

3 adjust the temperature of opening of the valve 25 and to calibrate said valve when required. An annular seal 59 seals the plug 57 to the valve body 11.

It may be seen from the foregoing that the thermally responsive element 30, the power member in the form of the diaphragm 33 and button 35, the valve 26 and the operating lever 46 are all carried on the bottom of the cover plate 19 and may be removed from the valve body 11 as a unit upon removal of the cover plate 19 and may also be assembled on the valve body merely by placing the cover plate 19 on the valve body and securing said cover plate in position on the valve body.

It may further be seen that the preassembled thermally responsive element and valve operated thereby may be installed in various forms of valve bodies and may readily be adapted to various control requirements.

While I have herein shown and described one form in which my invention may be embodied, it will be understood that various modifications and variations in the invention may be attained without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts thereof, as defined by the claims appended hereto.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a preassembled thermostatic valve and in combination with a valve body having an inlet and an outlet and an upwardly opening port having an upwardly facing annular seat extending therea-bout, a cover plate for said valve body, a thermally responsive element mounted on said cover plate and having a power member on the inside of said cover plate and extensible inwardly with respect to said cover plate upon increases in temperature and having temperature sensing means on the outside of said cover plate, a valve guided on the inside of said cover plate for engagement with said seat, spring means biasing said valve into engagement with said seat, an operating lever fulcrumed on the inside of said cover plate intermediate the ends of said operating lever and beneath said power member, said operating lever having operative supporting connection with said valve at one end and with said power member at its opposite end and retaining said valve to said cover plate, and spring means biasing said lever in a valve closing direction and maintaining said lever in engagement with said power member and said fulcrum.

2. In a preassembled thermostatic valve and in combination with a valve body having an inlet and an outlet and having an upwardly opening port in association with said outlet having an annular valve seat extending thereabout, a cover plate for said valve body, a capillary tube mounted on said cover plate and extending upwardly therefrom and having a bulb filled with a vaporizable liquid at the upper end thereof, a port leading through said cover plate in communication with said capillary tube, a diaphragm on the inside of said cover plate and sealed to said cover plate about said port, -a valve guide depending from said cover plate, a valve slidably guided on said valve guide, a spring encircling said valve guide and biasing said valve into engagement with said port, and means connected between said diaphragm and said valve and movably connecting said valve to said cover plate comprising a lever engageable with said diaphragm at one end and with said valve at its opposite end, a bridge mounted on said cover plate beneath said cover plate and extending across said diaphragm in spaced relation with respect thereto, a fulcrum on said bridge forming a fulcrum for said lever intermediate the ends thereof, and spring means maintaining said lever into engagement with said fulcrum and said diaphragm.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,105,453 Eggleston Jan. 11, 1938 2,387,793 Holmes -u Oct. 30, 1945 2,389,111 Dillman Nov. 13, 1945 2,457,378 Johnson et al. Dec. 28, 1948 2,591,897 Weber et al. Apr. 8, 1952 2,627,911 McCarty et al Feb. 10, 1953 2,843,323 Dobbin July 15, 1958 2,889,990 Loveland et al. June 9, 1959 2,919,858 Matthews Jan. 5, 1960 

